winter falls ━ hyunsung. ✓

ix › the days are getting shorter and the nights longer.

something in the air was different, and han jisung was dead set on figuring out what it was.

it couldn't be the changing season; it had been winter for almost a full month now, and it had even snowed a few times already.

he leaned forward on the countertop of the small diner he worked at, bunching up the apron tied around his torso. his face was a mask of seriousness and determination as he stared through the big glass windows at the soft daylight outside.

though it had been a few hours since the sunrise, the sun itself had not dared to show its face behind banks of clouds. that caused the morning to be quite chilly, enough to cause a shiver here and there.

but, thankfully, jisung was warmly dressed in sweatpants and a turtleneck, and he was currently sheltered from the cold weather outside.

lately, it felt like time was going too slow but also too fast somehow; the sun came out later and sank in sooner, and the nights were drawn out and marched along slowly.

he often woke up in the middle of the night to his own body violently shivering; the result of him kicking off the blanket in his sleep.

funny, they'd always argued over whose fault it was. it seemed jisung was the culprit all along.

being so close to the holiday season, jisung was normally kept quite busy at the diner, but that morning business was slow.

he cupped his hands around his face and let out a deep breath, frowning slightly in concentration.

the bell chimed at the door then, and he straightened himself up in order to fulfill his job duties. "welcome! my name is jisung; what can i get for you today?"

thanks to all the busywork, jisung often didn't notice the time passing until it was already the end of his shift. and because he was kept busy, he didn't really have time to think.

he had noticed lately, especially as the winter blew in with its flurry of hail and mushy snow, that his mind liked to torture him with unwarranted onslaughts of memories.

memories that usually had the same protagonist.

a year had passed since the ending of his last relationship, and jisung could still barely even say his name in his own thoughts.

hyunjin.

jisung shook his head and clapped his hands to his face a few times to bring himself out of the stupor.

no, he had to be strong. his ex... was meant for better things. there was no use feeling sad about their breakup now.

after all, jisung had already grieved the loss of him before they'd even gone their separate ways. ever since he decided to put art before all other things in his life, he was already gone.

the next thing he knew, it was already time for him to clock out. jisung did so and then went to the break room in the back to put on his overcoat.

with that, he pulled on a pair of mittens and draped the scarf around his neck, tying it down over his coat with slow, precise movements. it was hard for him to tie the scarf while wearing mittens.

once he was ready to head outside to brave the stinging cold air, he let out a breath.

as soon as he stepped outside, jisung jumped at the sudden loud horn blast from the incoming train heading into the station.

shaking his head, jisung mentally cursed that train and everyone who was on it for scaring him. why were people even traveling for the holidays anyway? it just caused unnecessary stress.

the snow crunched satisfyingly underneath his shoes when jisung began his trek back to the apartment. the cold air pressed against his face, turning his nose and cheeks warm. his eyelashes began to freeze.

and yet, he still couldn't get that strange feeling in the air to leave his mind.